Epilogue

Cora had never seen a sunset quite like a Roman sunset in summer. The golden light painted the domes, churches, and palaces dazzling shades of orange and red. An evening breeze wafted through the open window of their bedchamber. It was a beautiful end to the most perfect day. It was also their last day in Rome. Their wedding trip was coming to an end, and tomorrow they would begin the journey home. They had been able to make the trip a little bit sooner than planned because Harry had gotten himself into some trouble with the local authorities, which meant Leo had been forced to come down and post his bail. After they sent Harry home, they had stayed longer to enjoy the time alone together.

Home. It still amazed her how quickly she had come to think of home as London and Timberscombe Park rather than New York. Leo would always be her home now.

He came up behind her wearing only his drawers and put his arms around her. She leaned back against him and luxuriated in how good and natural it felt to simply exist with him. The Public Health Act had passed, and Bolingrave had not produced any evidence linking her to the name Lavender Starling, which meant that Leo had found all of it. There was always the chance that something else would emerge, but she knew that Leo would be by her side when the news did leak. She just hoped that Eliza and Jenny were settled before that happened. Eliza’s wedding was coming up soon, and Jenny had yet to find a suitable match.

She and Leo had spent the past couple of weeks simply enjoying each other’s company and letting the worries back home slip away from them. He was perfect for her in every way. She thought she was perfect for him, too. He wasn’t as aloof as when they had first married, and she noticed he often turned to her for advice and approval.

“Here. I brought you something.” His voice was low against her ear.

“Hmm.” Her gaze still on the sunset, he took her hand.

“I remembered you liked a particular emerald at that shop in Venice.”

He slid a ring onto her finger. It fit perfectly. “Emerald?” she whispered in awe. The jewel winked up at her in the gold light of sunset. “This is the one I said reminded me of your eyes.”

He nodded and kissed her temple. “The same one. I never got you a proper betrothal ring, because we never had a proper betrothal, I suppose. But you should have one.”

“I love it.” And she did. She loved even more that it was something special between the two of them.

“I want you to have it because I want you to know that I’d wed you all over again.”

She smiled and turned in his arms, holding him with one hand while she gazed at the beautiful ring. “Even without the money?” she teased.

“Even without the money, though I have to admit it’s a nice benefit of the arrangement.”

She pulled a face but then rose up on her toes and kissed him. “I would marry you, too, even without the title.”

He kissed her back until a knock on the door interrupted them. He smiled at her. “It must be the chocolates I ordered along with your favorite biscuits. Can you believe they found them here?”

“What favorite biscuits?” She didn’t know she had a favorite.

“The orange cream biscuits you ate at our wedding breakfast,” he said over his shoulder as he went to answer the door. “They were the only thing you ate the entire time.”

She hadn’t eaten because she’d been too nervous, but she had never realized that he had noticed. She had assumed the biscuits were common enough in England and Mrs. Anderson served them at tea because of her personal preference.

“Are you telling me you arranged to have Mrs. Anderson serve me the biscuits every day because I ate them at our wedding breakfast?”

He flashed a grin as he shrugged into his dressing gown and opened the door to a man wearing the hotel’s livery.

All this time he had been noticing her, observing the things she liked, and giving her small gifts of them. The chocolates, the fountain pen, the orange cream biscuits, and now the emerald ring. He might just be the most perfect husband in the world.

He closed the door after a quick conversation with the servant. A deep crease appeared between his brows, and he walked over to her holding a folded yellow sheet of paper. She recognized it as a telegram, and her stomach churned with anxiety. This could not be good.

“It’s for you,” he said and handed it over.

She opened it and read.

I have decided I cannot marry Mainwaring STOP I love another STOP Please advise STOP

From: Miss Eliza Dove

“It’s a good thing we leave tomorrow.”

“Why?” Leo asked. “Is something the matter?”

“Eliza needs us.”